Insta Novels, a reimagining of Instagram Stories to provide a new platform for some of the most iconic stories ever written, was first launched in August 2018 with a newly digitized version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Magoz (@magoz). The program, created by independent advertising and creative agency Mother in New York and developed in partnership with the Library, aims to make some of the greatest stories ever written available even more widely.

Some Data About Insta Novels, So Far

@nypl now has more than 287K Instagram followers, gaining more than 93K since Insta Novels launch

The number of iOS downloads of SimplyE – the Library’s e-reader – increased nearly 70% in the first 15 days after the launch (Android downloads were up 108%).

The Library does encourage those who want to keep reading after completing the Insta Novels to download the app and unlock hundreds of thousands of free e-books.

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.